Yips
Encyclopedia
Yips or the yips is an expression used to describe the apparent loss of certain fine motor skills
seemingly without explanation in one of a number of different sports.
Professional or leading amateur sportsmen affected by the Yips sometimes recover their ability, sometimes compensate by changing technique, or may be forced to abandon their sport at the highest level.
, the yips is a movement disorder known to interfere with putting. The term yips is said to have been popularized by Tommy Armour
—a golf champion and later golf teacher—to explain the difficulties that led him to abandon tournament play. In describing the yips, golfers have used terms such as twitches, staggers, jitters and jerks.
The yips affects between one-quarter and one-half of all mature golfers. Researchers at the Mayo Clinic
found that 33 percent to 48 percent of all serious golfers have experienced the yips. Golfers who have played for more than 25 years appear to be most prone to the condition. Golfers seriously afflicted by the yips include Bernhard Langer
, Ben Hogan
, Harry Vardon
, and Sam Snead
, whose late-career putting was "painful to watch" according to fellow pro golfer Ben Crenshaw
.
Although the exact cause of the yips has yet to be determined, one possibility is that, in some golfers, the condition may result from biochemical changes in the brain that accompany aging. Excessive use of the involved muscles and intense demands of coordination and concentration may make the problem worse. Giving up golf for a month may help. Focal dystonia
is mentioned as another possibility for the real cause of yips.
Therapeutically, persisting immature primitive reflexes, such as the asymmetrical tonic neck reflex, tonic labyrinthian reflex and/or the symmetrical tonic reflex can be inhibited through occupational, physical or other developmental therapists. These immature reflexes trigger unpredictable physical reactions when body and/or head movements are made. About ten repetitions of the movement tends to settle the reflex prior to hitting the ball or throwing.
and seems predominantly to affect left-arm spinners
. The affliction seems to involve bowlers having trouble releasing the ball at the end of their action. A notable recent example of this was Keith Medlycott
, who was forced to abandon the sport, having reached the England squad. Another player, Gavin Hamilton
, having played a Test
as an all-rounder, largely abandoned his right-arm medium pace bowling, following the yips. He did not make another Test appearance, but has enjoyed a One Day International career for Scotland, predominantly as a specialist batsman.Collins Obuya was one of the stars of Kenya's 2003 World Cup - he gained a contract with Warwickshire on the back of it - but soon after his game fell apart when he developed the yips.
, Pittsburgh Pirates
pitcher Steve Blass
was sent down to the minors to rid himself of the yips; the “Steve Blass Disease” diagnosis is applied to talented players (such as New York Yankees
second baseman Chuck Knoblauch
or Los Angeles Dodgers
second baseman Steve Sax
) who inexplicably seem to lose their ability. Examples from other sports include Chuck Hayes
’ free throw shot in basketball
and Guillermo Coria
and Elena Dementieva
struggling with serving in tennis
. In darts, the yips are known as dartitis
, with five-time world champion Eric Bristow
as the best example. In NFL Football, a normally reliable field goal kicker who starts struggling is also said to have the yips. Stephen Hendry
, seven times snooker World Champion, revealed after his loss to Mark Williams in the UK Championship that he had been suffering from the yips for 10 years, and that the condition had affected his ability to cue through the ball, causing him great difficulty in regaining his old form.
, a CBS
comedy. The episode was titled "The Yips", and uses the yips as a metaphor for the character Barney's sudden difficulties in hitting on women.
The yips were also mentioned on a 2007 episode of House
titled "Family". House describes Foreman as suffering from the same affliction as Steve Blass
, Scott Norwood
and David Duval
.
The yips were featured in 2009 on an episode of Psych
, a comedy on USA Network
. The episode, "Shawn Gets the Yips," shows the main character, Shawn, in need of a sports psychologist because he apparently suffers from the yips.
The 4th episode of the Psychology anime Kūchū Buranko
involves a patient suffering the Yips.
In Season 5 Episode 1 of Curb Your Enthusiasm
, Larry discovers that the doctor performing surgery on his father has the yips during a game of golf.
Episode 9 of Human Target dealt with the main character, Christopher Chance, confronting a case of the yips during a martial arts tournament.
In Season 2 Episode 1 of Nip/Tuck
a neurologist tells Sean McNamara that he has the yips after he notices a tremor during a surgery.
On their 1991 album, McIntyre, Treadmore And Davitt, English band Half Man Half Biscuit have a track called, Yipps (My Baby Got The).
In the manga series The Prince of Tennis, the character Yukimura Seiichi has a technique which gives his opponents a very bad case of the yips, so bad that they are actually rendered blind, deaf, and paralyzed in the middle of the game.
During the early episodes of the sixth season of Japan
ese baseball anime
, Major
, the main character, Goro, battles a case of the yips after being called up from AAA to pitch for the fictional MLB team, the Indiana Hornets.
On episode 9 of Necessary Roughness
, Dani takes a golf client who has a history of yips, so much that it's destroying his career.
Motor coordination
thumb|right|Motor coordination is shown in this animated sequence by [[Eadweard Muybridge]] of himself throwing a diskMotor coordination is the combination of body movements created with the kinematic and kinetic parameters that result in intended actions. Such movements usually smoothly and...
seemingly without explanation in one of a number of different sports.
Professional or leading amateur sportsmen affected by the Yips sometimes recover their ability, sometimes compensate by changing technique, or may be forced to abandon their sport at the highest level.
In golf
In golfGolf
Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
, the yips is a movement disorder known to interfere with putting. The term yips is said to have been popularized by Tommy Armour
Tommy Armour
Thomas Dickson Armour was a Scottish-American professional golfer. He was nicknamed The Silver Scot.Armour was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, and educated at Fettes College and the University of Edinburgh....
—a golf champion and later golf teacher—to explain the difficulties that led him to abandon tournament play. In describing the yips, golfers have used terms such as twitches, staggers, jitters and jerks.
The yips affects between one-quarter and one-half of all mature golfers. Researchers at the Mayo Clinic
Mayo Clinic
Mayo Clinic is a not-for-profit medical practice and medical research group specializing in treating difficult patients . Patients are referred to Mayo Clinic from across the U.S. and the world, and it is known for innovative and effective treatments. Mayo Clinic is known for being at the top of...
found that 33 percent to 48 percent of all serious golfers have experienced the yips. Golfers who have played for more than 25 years appear to be most prone to the condition. Golfers seriously afflicted by the yips include Bernhard Langer
Bernhard Langer
Bernhard Langer is a German professional golfer. He is a two-time Masters champion, and was one of the world's leading golfers throughout the 1980s and 90s, being the first official number one ranked player in 1986...
, Ben Hogan
Ben Hogan
William Ben Hogan was an American golfer, generally considered one of the greatest players in the history of the game...
, Harry Vardon
Harry Vardon
Harry Vardon was a Jersey professional golfer and member of the fabled Great Triumvirate of the sport in his day, along with John Henry Taylor and James Braid. He won The Open Championship a record six times and also won the U.S. Open.-Biography:Vardon was born in Grouville, Jersey, Channel Islands...
, and Sam Snead
Sam Snead
Samuel Jackson Snead was an American professional golfer who was one of the top players in the world for most of four decades. Snead won a record 82 PGA Tour events including seven majors. He failed to win a U.S...
, whose late-career putting was "painful to watch" according to fellow pro golfer Ben Crenshaw
Ben Crenshaw
Ben Daniel Crenshaw is an American professional golfer.Crenshaw was born in Austin, Texas. He attended and played golf at Austin High School and the University of Texas, where he won three NCAA Championships from 1971 to 1973...
.
Although the exact cause of the yips has yet to be determined, one possibility is that, in some golfers, the condition may result from biochemical changes in the brain that accompany aging. Excessive use of the involved muscles and intense demands of coordination and concentration may make the problem worse. Giving up golf for a month may help. Focal dystonia
Focal dystonia
Focal dystonia is a neurological condition that affects a muscle or group of muscles in a part of the body and causes an involuntary muscular contraction or twisting...
is mentioned as another possibility for the real cause of yips.
Therapeutically, persisting immature primitive reflexes, such as the asymmetrical tonic neck reflex, tonic labyrinthian reflex and/or the symmetrical tonic reflex can be inhibited through occupational, physical or other developmental therapists. These immature reflexes trigger unpredictable physical reactions when body and/or head movements are made. About ten repetitions of the movement tends to settle the reflex prior to hitting the ball or throwing.
In cricket
In cricket, the yips applies mostly to bowlersBowling (cricket)
In the sport of cricket, bowling is the action of propelling the ball toward the wicket defended by a batsman. A player skilled at bowling is called a bowler; a bowler who is also a competent batsman is known as an all-rounder...
and seems predominantly to affect left-arm spinners
Spin bowling
Spin bowling is a technique used for bowling in the sport of cricket. Practitioners are known as spinners or spin bowlers.-Purpose:The main aim of spin bowling is to bowl the cricket ball with rapid rotation so that when it bounces on the pitch it will deviate, thus making it difficult for the...
. The affliction seems to involve bowlers having trouble releasing the ball at the end of their action. A notable recent example of this was Keith Medlycott
Keith Medlycott
Keith Thomas Medlycott is an English former cricketer, a left-arm spinner and middle order batsman for Surrey and Northern Transvaal...
, who was forced to abandon the sport, having reached the England squad. Another player, Gavin Hamilton
Gavin Hamilton (cricketer)
Gavin Mark Hamilton is an all-round cricketer who played one Test for England and has appeared in a number of One Day Internationals for Scotland...
, having played a Test
Test cricket
Test cricket is the longest form of the sport of cricket. Test matches are played between national representative teams with "Test status", as determined by the International Cricket Council , with four innings played between two teams of 11 players over a period of up to a maximum five days...
as an all-rounder, largely abandoned his right-arm medium pace bowling, following the yips. He did not make another Test appearance, but has enjoyed a One Day International career for Scotland, predominantly as a specialist batsman.Collins Obuya was one of the stars of Kenya's 2003 World Cup - he gained a contract with Warwickshire on the back of it - but soon after his game fell apart when he developed the yips.
In other sports
The yips also affects players in other sports. In baseballBaseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
, Pittsburgh Pirates
Pittsburgh Pirates
The Pittsburgh Pirates are a Major League Baseball club based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They play in the Central Division of the National League, and are five-time World Series Champions...
pitcher Steve Blass
Steve Blass
Stephen Robert "Steve" Blass is a former Major League Baseball right-handed pitcher and a current broadcast announcer for the Pittsburgh Pirates.-Playing career:Blass was born in Canaan, Connecticut...
was sent down to the minors to rid himself of the yips; the “Steve Blass Disease” diagnosis is applied to talented players (such as New York Yankees
New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the The Bronx, New York. They compete in Major League Baseball in the American League's East Division...
second baseman Chuck Knoblauch
Chuck Knoblauch
Edward Charles "Chuck" Knoblauch is a retired Major League Baseball player. He played all or part of twelve seasons in the majors, from until , for the Minnesota Twins , New York Yankees and Kansas City Royals...
or Los Angeles Dodgers
Los Angeles Dodgers
The Los Angeles Dodgers are a professional baseball team based in Los Angeles, California. The Dodgers are members of Major League Baseball's National League West Division. Established in 1883, the team originated in Brooklyn, New York, where it was known by a number of nicknames before becoming...
second baseman Steve Sax
Steve Sax
Stephen Louis Sax is a former second baseman in Major League Baseball. He was a right-handed batter for the Los Angeles Dodgers , New York Yankees , Chicago White Sox , and the Oakland Athletics ....
) who inexplicably seem to lose their ability. Examples from other sports include Chuck Hayes
Chuck Hayes
Charles "Chuck" Edward Hayes, Jr. is an American professional basketball player. He is 6'6", 238 pound center/power forward who last played for the Houston Rockets of the NBA...
’ free throw shot in basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
and Guillermo Coria
Guillermo Coria
Guillermo Sebastián Coria , nicknames include El Mago , is a retired professional tennis player from Argentina who was runner-up in the 2004 French Open...
and Elena Dementieva
Elena Dementieva
Elena Viatcheslavovna Dementieva is a retired Russian professional tennis player. Dementieva is most notable for winning the singles gold medal at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. She won 16 WTA singles titles and reached the finals of the 2004 French Open and 2004 US Open. Dementieva achieved a...
struggling with serving in tennis
Tennis
Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
. In darts, the yips are known as dartitis
Dartitis
Dartitis is a condition which can affect dart players, and severely damage their performance and results. It can be compared to the 'yips', an expression used to describe apparent loss of fine motor skills without any explanation...
, with five-time world champion Eric Bristow
Eric Bristow
Eric Bristow MBE is a British darts player, whose skill at the game in the 1980s helped turn it into a worldwide spectator sport.- Early career :...
as the best example. In NFL Football, a normally reliable field goal kicker who starts struggling is also said to have the yips. Stephen Hendry
Stephen Hendry
Stephen Gordon Hendry, MBE is a Scottish professional snooker player. In 1990, he was the youngest-ever snooker World Champion, at the age of 21. He has won the World Championship a record seven times and was snooker's world number one for eight consecutive years between 1990 and 1998, and again...
, seven times snooker World Champion, revealed after his loss to Mark Williams in the UK Championship that he had been suffering from the yips for 10 years, and that the condition had affected his ability to cue through the ball, causing him great difficulty in regaining his old form.
In popular culture
In 2007, the yips were a major part of the plot line of an episode of How I Met Your MotherHow I Met Your Mother
How I Met Your Mother is an American sitcom that premiered on CBS on September 19, 2005, created by Craig Thomas and Carter Bays.As a framing device, the main character, Ted Mosby with narration by Bob Saget, in the year 2030 recounts to his son and daughter the events that led to his meeting...
, a CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
comedy. The episode was titled "The Yips", and uses the yips as a metaphor for the character Barney's sudden difficulties in hitting on women.
The yips were also mentioned on a 2007 episode of House
House (TV series)
House is an American television medical drama that debuted on the Fox network on November 16, 2004. The show's central character is Dr. Gregory House , an unconventional and misanthropic medical genius who heads a team of diagnosticians at the fictional Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital in...
titled "Family". House describes Foreman as suffering from the same affliction as Steve Blass
Steve Blass
Stephen Robert "Steve" Blass is a former Major League Baseball right-handed pitcher and a current broadcast announcer for the Pittsburgh Pirates.-Playing career:Blass was born in Canaan, Connecticut...
, Scott Norwood
Scott Norwood
Scott Allan Norwood is a former American football placekicker in the NFL who played for the Buffalo Bills. Norwood was an integral part of its offense during the late 1980s and early 1990s, and kicked in Buffalo's first two Super Bowl appearances...
and David Duval
David Duval
David Robert Duval is an American professional golfer and former World No. 1 who competes on the PGA Tour.-Early years:...
.
The yips were featured in 2009 on an episode of Psych
Psych
Psych is an American detective comedy-drama television series created by Steve Franks and broadcast on USA Network. It stars James Roday as Shawn Spencer, a young crime consultant for the Santa Barbara Police Department whose "heightened observational skills" and impressive detective instincts...
, a comedy on USA Network
USA Network
USA Network is an American cable television channel launched in 1971. Once a minor player in basic cable, the network has steadily gained popularity because of breakout hits like Monk, Psych, Burn Notice, Royal Pains, Covert Affairs, White Collar, Monday Night RAW, Suits, and reruns of the various...
. The episode, "Shawn Gets the Yips," shows the main character, Shawn, in need of a sports psychologist because he apparently suffers from the yips.
The 4th episode of the Psychology anime Kūchū Buranko
Kūchū Buranko
is a fictional psychiatrist in a series of short stories by Japanese writer Hideo Okuda, originally published primarily in the literary magazine All Yomimono from August 2000 to January 2006 and later collected in three tankōbon: , and...
involves a patient suffering the Yips.
In Season 5 Episode 1 of Curb Your Enthusiasm
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Curb Your Enthusiasm is an American comedy television series produced and broadcast by HBO, which premiered on October 15, 2000. As of 2011, it has completed 80 episodes over eight seasons. The series was created by Seinfeld co-creator Larry David, who stars as a fictionalized version of himself...
, Larry discovers that the doctor performing surgery on his father has the yips during a game of golf.
Episode 9 of Human Target dealt with the main character, Christopher Chance, confronting a case of the yips during a martial arts tournament.
In Season 2 Episode 1 of Nip/Tuck
Nip/Tuck
Nip/Tuck is an American drama series created by Ryan Murphy, which aired on FX in the United States. The series focuses on McNamara/Troy, a plastic surgery practice, and follows its founders, Sean McNamara and Christian Troy...
a neurologist tells Sean McNamara that he has the yips after he notices a tremor during a surgery.
On their 1991 album, McIntyre, Treadmore And Davitt, English band Half Man Half Biscuit have a track called, Yipps (My Baby Got The).
In the manga series The Prince of Tennis, the character Yukimura Seiichi has a technique which gives his opponents a very bad case of the yips, so bad that they are actually rendered blind, deaf, and paralyzed in the middle of the game.
During the early episodes of the sixth season of Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese baseball anime
Anime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
, Major
Major (manga)
Major is a sports manga series by Takuya Mitsuda. It has been serialized in Shōnen Sunday and has been collected in 78 tankōbon volumes...
, the main character, Goro, battles a case of the yips after being called up from AAA to pitch for the fictional MLB team, the Indiana Hornets.
On episode 9 of Necessary Roughness
Necessary Roughness (TV series)
Necessary Roughness is a USA Network television series starring Callie Thorne and Marc Blucas. The one-hour drama series was picked up for 12 episodes on January 19, 2011...
, Dani takes a golf client who has a history of yips, so much that it's destroying his career.